Limits...
I don't know about you, but I had a hard time solving limits in Math class... I used to give up five minutes into it.. I loved derivatives and integrals though. Limits, for some reason, were annoying to me!
Today, while walking to Church, I thought about limits. But this time, I thought of a different kind of limits: the limits in our lives. Believe me, they are just as annoying as the other limits!
I have many things I dream of, things I want to learn, things I want to do, but I keep hitting limits: time, energy, money, people, and so on. These are limits that tend to 0 - 0 funds, 0 time, 0 energy, 0 people, 0 resources... I think you get the point... or maybe they tend to infinity - infinity amount of chores, infinity people to demand your attention, infinity problems to solve...
How do you solve these limits? Many of them are unsolvable... we just need to accept that sometimes. I think back on all the times I got frustrated that I couldn't do something I always dreamed of because I didn't have the money to do it, or I had other things more important on my plate at the time. I wasted a lot of my energy on my frustrations, and compromised my peace and joy. I think I am doing better now with accepting these limits.
Then, there are other kind o limits. There are limits that we put in front of our progress: "I could never do that!" "I am not smart enough" "I don't think I could ever learn that". Do these sound familiar? All i have to say is these are wrong! These limits are impossible! They don't exist! We look at them, and think they exist, but in reality they are a joke! Ridiculous! Here are some examples from my own life when I thought I reached my limit, but I was wrong:
1. Singing
I used to think I could never in my life sing. I thought for the longest time that I was tone deaf. Then i went on my mission, and my first companion got me singing. I can't say I was good at it, but she got me started. I continue singing, and my voice started to sound better. I thought it was the mission miracle. I got off my mission, came back to Arad, and kept singing. I still can't sing as well as Simona, Andra or Emi, but I can sing.
Simona told me that I was pretty good before my mission also, but because I set a limit in my head, I didn't recognize it, and so I did not progress. But as soon as I was challenged to push MY limit, I realized there wasn't a limit - just my fear, my STOP sign.
2. Language
I am pretty good at English, there is still room for improving, but I don't see any limits to my English. I am always progressing, improving, and I like it.
When it comes to Hungarian though, I am very insecure, I speak very slow, and I am very unsure of what I am saying. I kept telling myself that I can't read Hungarian. Well, that I can read, but not understand what I read. I thought that for years and years! I set a limit to myself - a STOP sign.
I recently got a second job where I have to make phone calls to Hungary, send emails in Hungarian, look online for companies in Hungary and contact them. I was so excited about it when I first started. Then after a day's work, I had a break down: "I can't do this! I don't understand a thing! I cannot talk to them!" I called my boss, and told him I would find him someone more suited for this job. He laughed at me, and told me "You are a smart girl. You can do anything!". I swear I laughed at him. I doubted him.
But I did not quit. I called a friend who is Hungarian, and he also knows Romanian, and he helped me a bit. That got me more optimistic, but I kept my STOP sign to the reading part.
Two days ago I went through my stuff, and found the conference Liahona issue in Hungarian. I opened it jokingly, and read a line. To my surprise, it made sense. I kept reading, and a whole paragraph made sense to me. I have to admit that I did not understand every word, or every grammar principle used there, but I understood what I read. I took my stop sign, and threw it away. Now I spend time reading two pages a day, trying hard to understand, and it makes more sense now. There is no more limit there to stop me.
These are just two examples, but I think you understand what I am trying to say. Yes, there are limits in our lives, some out of our control. We shouldn't put limits to what we can do, unless they tend to reach infinity - improve in every aspect, every talent, every little thing that can help you get closer and closer to infinity (you can never reach infinity, but it's good to move closer...) Just try progressing. Never say never! Never say you can't do it! We have an infinite worth, and an infinite potential. we should never say "I am not good enough". Remember who we are: children of a Heavenly Father, children of GOD!
Let us reach towards infinity, towards perfection... forget the rest of the limits... the most important one is the one that gets us to stretch towards infinity in every aspect ... positive aspect, that is.
Today, while walking to Church, I thought about limits. But this time, I thought of a different kind of limits: the limits in our lives. Believe me, they are just as annoying as the other limits!
I have many things I dream of, things I want to learn, things I want to do, but I keep hitting limits: time, energy, money, people, and so on. These are limits that tend to 0 - 0 funds, 0 time, 0 energy, 0 people, 0 resources... I think you get the point... or maybe they tend to infinity - infinity amount of chores, infinity people to demand your attention, infinity problems to solve...
How do you solve these limits? Many of them are unsolvable... we just need to accept that sometimes. I think back on all the times I got frustrated that I couldn't do something I always dreamed of because I didn't have the money to do it, or I had other things more important on my plate at the time. I wasted a lot of my energy on my frustrations, and compromised my peace and joy. I think I am doing better now with accepting these limits.
Then, there are other kind o limits. There are limits that we put in front of our progress: "I could never do that!" "I am not smart enough" "I don't think I could ever learn that". Do these sound familiar? All i have to say is these are wrong! These limits are impossible! They don't exist! We look at them, and think they exist, but in reality they are a joke! Ridiculous! Here are some examples from my own life when I thought I reached my limit, but I was wrong:
1. Singing
I used to think I could never in my life sing. I thought for the longest time that I was tone deaf. Then i went on my mission, and my first companion got me singing. I can't say I was good at it, but she got me started. I continue singing, and my voice started to sound better. I thought it was the mission miracle. I got off my mission, came back to Arad, and kept singing. I still can't sing as well as Simona, Andra or Emi, but I can sing.
Simona told me that I was pretty good before my mission also, but because I set a limit in my head, I didn't recognize it, and so I did not progress. But as soon as I was challenged to push MY limit, I realized there wasn't a limit - just my fear, my STOP sign.
2. Language
I am pretty good at English, there is still room for improving, but I don't see any limits to my English. I am always progressing, improving, and I like it.
When it comes to Hungarian though, I am very insecure, I speak very slow, and I am very unsure of what I am saying. I kept telling myself that I can't read Hungarian. Well, that I can read, but not understand what I read. I thought that for years and years! I set a limit to myself - a STOP sign.
I recently got a second job where I have to make phone calls to Hungary, send emails in Hungarian, look online for companies in Hungary and contact them. I was so excited about it when I first started. Then after a day's work, I had a break down: "I can't do this! I don't understand a thing! I cannot talk to them!" I called my boss, and told him I would find him someone more suited for this job. He laughed at me, and told me "You are a smart girl. You can do anything!". I swear I laughed at him. I doubted him.
But I did not quit. I called a friend who is Hungarian, and he also knows Romanian, and he helped me a bit. That got me more optimistic, but I kept my STOP sign to the reading part.
Two days ago I went through my stuff, and found the conference Liahona issue in Hungarian. I opened it jokingly, and read a line. To my surprise, it made sense. I kept reading, and a whole paragraph made sense to me. I have to admit that I did not understand every word, or every grammar principle used there, but I understood what I read. I took my stop sign, and threw it away. Now I spend time reading two pages a day, trying hard to understand, and it makes more sense now. There is no more limit there to stop me.
These are just two examples, but I think you understand what I am trying to say. Yes, there are limits in our lives, some out of our control. We shouldn't put limits to what we can do, unless they tend to reach infinity - improve in every aspect, every talent, every little thing that can help you get closer and closer to infinity (you can never reach infinity, but it's good to move closer...) Just try progressing. Never say never! Never say you can't do it! We have an infinite worth, and an infinite potential. we should never say "I am not good enough". Remember who we are: children of a Heavenly Father, children of GOD!
Let us reach towards infinity, towards perfection... forget the rest of the limits... the most important one is the one that gets us to stretch towards infinity in every aspect ... positive aspect, that is.
thank you eni for posting such uplifting thoughts! it helps me grow so much! you are awesome and never give up!
ReplyDeletekatie rasmussen